Crime and punishment history of creation watch. The creative history of the creation of the novel “Crime and Punishment”

When was Crime and Punishment written? Few people remember, although everyone remembers its plot.

"Crime and Punishment" year of writing

The novel “Crime and Punishment” was written in 1866 writer F. M. Dostoevsky.

Dostoevsky wrote the novel from 1865-1866. “Crime and Punishment” reproduces the life of the urban poor, reflects the growth of social inequality and crime.

The novel was published in parts from January to December 1866. Dostoevsky worked a lot on the novel, rushing to add fresh chapters to each new book in the magazine. Soon after the publication of the novel in the magazine was completed, Dostoevsky published it in a separate edition: “A novel in six parts with an epilogue by F. M. Dostoevsky. Corrected edition." For this edition, Dostoevsky made significant cuts and changes in the text: three parts of the magazine edition were transformed into six, and the division into chapters was partially changed.

The main motive of the novel “Crime and Punishment”- this is a decline in morality. In his work, F. M. Dostoevsky talks about people living an intense spiritual life, who painfully and persistently search for the truth.
The writer shows the life of different social groups: disadvantaged urban people, oppressed by poverty and humiliation, educated poor people rebelling against evil and violence, successful businessmen. Dostoevsky deeply explores not only inner world an individual, but also his psychology. It poses complex social, moral and philosophical questions. The search for answers to these questions, the struggle of ideas - this is what forms the basis of the novel.

"Crime and Punishment"- a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, first published in 1866 in the magazine “Russian Messenger” (No. 1, 2, 4, 6-8, 11-12). The novel was published as a separate edition (with a change in the division into parts, some abbreviations and stylistic corrections) in 1867.

History of creation

The first parts of “Crime and Punishment” first appeared in 1866 in eight issues of the magazine “Russian Messenger”. The novel is published in parts in January-December. Dostoevsky has been working on the novel all year, rushing to add written chapters to the next book of the magazine.

Soon after the publication of the novel in the magazine was completed, Dostoevsky published it in a separate edition: “A novel in six parts with an epilogue by F. M. Dostoevsky. Corrected edition." For this edition, Dostoevsky made significant cuts and changes in the text: three parts of the magazine edition were transformed into six, and the division into chapters was partially changed.

Plot

The plot revolves around the main character, Rodion Raskolnikov, in whose head a theory of the crime is ripening. According to his idea, humanity is divided into “chosen” and “material”. The “chosen ones” (Napoleon is a classic example) have the right to commit a murder or several murders for the sake of future great achievements. Raskolnikov himself is very poor; he cannot pay not only for his studies at the university, but also for his own living expenses. His mother and sister are very poor, he soon finds out that his sister (Avdotya Romanovna) is ready to marry a man she does not love, for the sake of money, for the sake of her brother. This was the last straw, and Raskolnikov commits the deliberate murder of an old money-lender (“louse” by his definition) and the forced murder of her sister, a witness. But Raskolnikov cannot use the stolen goods, he hides them. From this time begins the terrible life of the criminal, a restless, feverish consciousness, his attempts to find support and meaning in life, justification of the act and its evaluation. Subtle psychologism, existential comprehension of Raskolnikov’s act and further existence are colorfully conveyed by Dostoevsky. More and more new faces are involved in the action of the novel. Fate pits him against a lonely, frightened, poor girl, in whom he finds a kindred spirit and support, Sonya Marmeladova, who has taken the path of self-sale due to poverty. Sonya, a believer in God, is trying to somehow hold on in life after losing her parents. Raskolnikov also finds support in his university friend Razumikhin, who is in love with his sister Avdotya Romanovna. Such characters appear as the investigator Porfiry Petrovich, who understood Raskolnikov’s soul and wittily brought him to light, Svidrigailov, a libertine and scoundrel - a vivid example of a “chosen” person (according to Raskolnikov’s theory), Luzhin, a lawyer and a cunning egoist, etc. In the novel, they reveal social causes of crimes and disasters, moral contradictions, oppressive circumstances of the fall, the life of the St. Petersburg poor, drunkenness and prostitution is described, dozens of peculiar characters and characters. Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov tries to understand whether he is a worthy person, whether he has the right to judge other people. Unable to bear the burden of his crime, main character confesses to the murder, writing a sincere confession. However, he sees the guilt not in the fact that he committed the murder, but in the fact that he committed it without appreciating his inner weakness and pitiful cowardice. He renounces the claim to being chosen. Raskolnikov ends up in hard labor, but Sonya remains next to him. These two lonely people found each other at a very difficult time in their lives. In the end, the hero finds support in love and religious consciousness.

Location

The novel takes place in the summer in St. Petersburg.

Characters

• Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a mendicant former student, the protagonist of the story. He believes that he has the moral right to commit crimes and murder is only the first step on an uncompromising road that will lead him to the top. Unconsciously, he chooses as a victim the weakest and most defenseless member of society, justifying this by the insignificance of the life of an old pawnbroker, after whose murder he is faced with a severe psychological shock: murder does not make a person “the chosen one.”
• Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova, mother of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, comes to him in St. Petersburg in the hope of marrying her daughter to Luzhin and settling family life. Disappointment in Luzhin, fear for Rodion's life and peace of mind, and her daughter's misfortune lead her to illness and death.
• Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova, sister of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. An intelligent, beautiful, chaste girl, in love with her brother to the point of self-sacrifice. Has the habit of walking from corner to corner around the room in moments of thoughtfulness. In the struggle for his happiness, she was ready to agree to a marriage of convenience, but she could not make contact with Luzhin for the sake of his salvation. Marries Razumikhin, finding in him sincere and loving person, his brother's true comrade.
• Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, fiancé of Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova, lawyer, enterprising and selfish businessman. Avdotya Romanovna's fiancé, who wanted to make her his slave, owing her position and well-being to him. Hostility towards Raskolnikov and the desire to quarrel between him and his family underpin an attempt to dishonor Marmeladova and falsify the theft allegedly committed against her.
• Dmitry Prokofievich Razumikhin, former student, friend of Raskolnikov. Strong, cheerful, smart guy, sincere and spontaneous. Deep love and affection for Raskolnikov explains his concern for him. He falls in love with Dunechka and proves his love with his help and support. Marries Duna.
• Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, former titular councilor, degenerate drunkard, alcoholic. It reflects the features of the heroes of Dostoevsky’s unwritten novel “The Drunken Ones,” to which the writing of the novel genetically dates back. Sonya Marmeladova's father, himself burdened by his addiction to alcohol, is a weak, weak-willed man who, however, loves his children. Crushed by a horse.
• Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova, wife of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, staff officer’s daughter. A sick woman, forced to raise three children alone, is not entirely healthy mentally. After her husband’s difficult funeral, undermined by constant work, worries and illness, she goes crazy and dies.
• Sonya Semyonovna Marmeladova, daughter of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov from his first marriage, a girl desperate for self-sale. Despite this type of occupation, she is a sensitive, timid and shy girl, forced to earn money in such an unsightly way. She understands Rodion’s suffering, finds in him support in life, and the strength to make him a man again. She follows him to Siberia and becomes his lifelong girlfriend.
• Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, nobleman, former officer, landowner. Libertine, scoundrel, cheater. It is introduced in contrast to Raskolnikov as an example of a person who stops at nothing to achieve his goals and does not think for a second about methods and “his right” (Rodion talks about such people in his theory). Avdotya Romanovna became the object of Svidrigailov’s passion. An attempt to gain her favor through the help of Rodion was unsuccessful. Sliding into madness and the abyss of depravity, despite his terrible fear of death, he shoots himself in the temple.
• Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova, his late wife, of whose murder Arkady Ivanovich is suspected, according to whom she appeared to him as a ghost. She donated three thousand rubles to Dunya, which allowed Dunya to reject Luzhin as a groom.
• Andrey Semyonovich Lebezyatnikov, a young man serving in the ministry. A “progressive”, a utopian socialist, but a stupid person who does not fully understand and exaggerates many of the ideas of building communes. Luzhin's neighbor.
• Porfiry Petrovich, bailiff of investigative cases. A seasoned master of his craft, a subtle psychologist who saw through Raskolnikov and invited him to confess to the murder himself. But he was unable to prove Rodion’s guilt due to lack of evidence.
• Amalia Ludvigovna (Ivanovna) Lippevehzel, I rented out an apartment to Lebezyatnikov, Luzhin, and Marmeladov. A stupid and quarrelsome woman, proud of her father, whose origins are generally unknown.
• Alena Ivanovna, collegiate secretary, pawnbroker. A dry and evil old woman, killed by Raskolnikov.
• Lizaveta Ivanovna, Alena Ivanovna's half-sister, an accidental witness to the murder, was killed by Raskolnikov.
• Zosimov, doctor, friend of Razumikhin

Film adaptations

Based on the novel, films and films have been repeatedly filmed. animated films. The most famous of them:

• Crime and Punishment(English) Crime and Punishment) (1935, USA featuring Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold and Marian Marsh);
• Crime and Punishment(fr. Crime et Châtiment) (1956, France directed by Georges Lampin, with the participation of Jean Gabin, Marina Vlady and Robert Hossein);
• Crime and Punishment(1969, USSR, with the participation of Georgy Taratorkin, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Tatyana Bedova, Victoria Fedorova);
• Crime and Punishment(English) Crime and Punishment) (1979, short film starring Timothy West, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt);
• Shock(English) Astonished) (1988, USA with Lilian Komorowska, Tommy Hollis and Ken Ryan);
• Crime and Punishment of Dostoevsky(English) Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment ) (1998, USA, TV movie starring Patrick Dempsey, Ben Kingsley and Julie Delpy);
• Crime and Punishment(English) Crime and Punishment) (2002, USA-Russia-Poland)
• Crime and Punishment(2007, Russia, with the participation of Vladimir Koshevoy, Andrey Panin, Alexander Baluev and Elena Yakovleva).

Theater productions

The novel has been dramatized many times in Russia and abroad. The first attempt to dramatize the novel by A. S. Ushakov in 1867 did not take place due to the ban on censorship. The first production that took place in Russia dates back to 1899. The first known foreign production took place at the Odeon Theater in Paris ().

Translations

The first Polish translation (Zbrodnia i kara) was published in 1887-88.

An imperfect Lithuanian translation by Juozas Balciunas was published in 1929. Its reissue in

Crime and Punishment is the most famous novel by F.M. Dostoevsky, who made a powerful revolution in public consciousness. Writing a novel symbolizes the opening of a higher, new stage in the work of a brilliant writer. The novel, with Dostoevsky's characteristic psychologism, shows the path of the restless human soul through the thorns of suffering to the comprehension of the Truth.

History of creation

The path to creating the work was very difficult. The idea of ​​the novel with the underlying theory of the “superman” began to emerge during the writer’s stay in hard labor; it matured for many years, but the idea itself, revealing the essence of “ordinary” and “extraordinary” people, crystallized during Dostoevsky’s stay in Italy .

The beginning of work on the novel was marked by the merger of two drafts - the unfinished novel “Drunk” and the outline of a novel, the plot of which is based on the confession of one of the convicts. Subsequently, the plot was based on the story of a poor student Rodion Raskolnikov, who killed an old money-lender for the good of his family. The life of a big city, full of dramas and conflicts, became one of the main images of the novel.

Fyodor Mikhailovich worked on the novel in 1865-1866, and almost immediately after finishing it in 1866, it was published in the Russian Messenger magazine. The response among reviewers and the literary community of the time was quite stormy - from enthusiastic admiration to sharp rejection. The novel was subjected to repeated dramatizations and was subsequently filmed. First theatrical production took place in Russia in 1899 (it is noteworthy that it was staged abroad 11 years earlier).

Description of the work

The action takes place in a poor area of ​​St. Petersburg in the 1860s. Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student, pawns the last valuable thing to the old pawnbroker. Filled with hatred for her, he is plotting a terrible murder. On the way home, he looks into one of the drinking establishments, where he meets the completely degraded official Marmeladov. Rodion listens to painful revelations about the unfortunate fate of his daughter, Sonya Marmeladova, who, at the suggestion of her stepmother, was forced to earn a living for her family through prostitution.

Soon Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother and is horrified by the moral violence against his younger sister Dunya, which was inflicted on her by the cruel and depraved landowner Svidrigailov. Raskolnikov’s mother hopes to arrange the fate of her children by marrying her daughter to Pyotr Luzhin, a very wealthy man, but at the same time everyone understands that there will be no love in this marriage and the girl will again be doomed to suffering. Rodion’s heart breaks with pity for Sonya and Dunya, and the thought of killing the hated old woman is firmly fixed in his mind. He is going to spend the pawnbroker's money, earned unjustly, for a good cause - delivering suffering girls and boys from humiliating poverty.

Despite the disgust for bloody violence rising in his soul, Raskolnikov still commits a grave sin. In addition, in addition to the old woman, he kills her meek sister Lizaveta, an unwitting witness to a serious crime. Rodion barely manages to escape from the crime scene, while he hides the old woman's wealth in a random place, without even assessing their real value.

Raskolnikov's mental suffering causes social alienation between him and those around him, and Rodion falls ill from his experiences. He soon learns that another person has been accused of the crime he committed - a simple village guy, Mikolka. A painful reaction to others talking about a crime becomes too noticeable and suspicious.

Further, the novel describes the difficult ordeals of the soul of a student killer, trying to find peace of mind and find at least some moral justification for the crime committed. A bright thread running through the novel is Rodion’s communication with the unhappy, but at the same time kind and highly spiritual girl Sonya Marmeladova. Her soul is troubled by the discrepancy between her inner purity and her sinful lifestyle, and Raskolnikov finds a kindred spirit in this girl. Lonely Sonya and university friend Razumikhin become support for the tormented former student Rodion.

Over time, the investigator in the murder case, Porfiry Petrovich, finds out the detailed circumstances of the crime and Raskolnikov, after much moral torment, recognizes himself as a murderer and goes to hard labor. Selfless Sonya does not leave her closest friend and goes after him; thanks to the girl, the protagonist of the novel undergoes a spiritual transformation.

The main characters of the novel

(Illustration by I. Glazunov Raskolnikov in his closet)

The duality of spiritual impulses is contained in the name of the main character of the novel. His whole life is permeated with the question: will violations of the law be justified if they are committed in the name of love for others? Under the pressure of external circumstances, Raskolnikov in practice goes through all the circles of moral hell associated with murder for the sake of helping loved ones. Catharsis comes thanks to oneself dear person- Sonya Marmeladova, who helps the soul of a restless student killer find peace, despite the difficult conditions of a hard labor existence.

The image of this amazing, tragic, and at the same time sublime heroine carries wisdom and humility. For the sake of the well-being of her neighbors, she trampled on the most precious thing she has - her feminine honor. Despite her way of earning money, Sonya does not evoke the slightest contempt; her pure soul and commitment to the ideals of Christian morality delight the readers of the novel. Being a faithful and loving friend of Rodion, she goes with him to the very end.

The mystery and ambiguity of this character makes us once again think about the versatility of human nature. A cunning and vicious person on the one hand, by the end of the novel he shows his care and concern for his orphaned children and helps Sonya Marmeladova restore her damaged reputation.

A successful entrepreneur, a person with a respectable appearance makes a deceptive impression. Luzhin is cold, selfish, does not disdain slander, he does not want love from his wife, but exclusively servility and obedience.

Analysis of the work

The compositional structure of the novel is a polyphonic form, where the line of each of the main characters is multifaceted, self-sufficient, and at the same time actively interacts with the themes of the other characters. Another feature of the novel is the amazing concentration of events - the time frame of the novel is limited to two weeks, which, given such a significant volume, is a rather rare phenomenon in world literature of that time.

The structural composition of the novel is quite simple - 6 parts, each of them in turn is divided into 6-7 chapters. A special feature is the lack of synchronization between Raskolnikov’s days and the clear and concise structure of the novel, which emphasizes the confusion of the protagonist’s internal state. The first part describes three days of Raskolnikov’s life, and from the second, the number of events increases with each chapter, reaching an amazing concentration.

Another feature of the novel is hopeless doom and tragic fate most of her heroes. Until the end of the novel, only the young characters will remain with the reader - Rodion and Dunya Raskolnikov, Sonya Marmeladova, Dmitry Razumikhin.

Dostoevsky himself considered his novel “a psychological report of a crime,” he is sure that mental anguish prevails over legal punishment. The main character moves away from God and is carried away by the ideas of nihilism that were popular at that time, and only towards the end of the novel does a return to Christian morality occur; the author leaves the hero the hypothetical possibility of repentance.

Final conclusion

Throughout the novel “Crime and Punishment,” Rodion Raskolnikov’s worldview transforms from one close to Nietzsche, who was obsessed with the idea of ​​a “superman,” to a Christian one, with his teaching about Divine love, humility and mercy. The social concept of the novel is closely intertwined with the Gospel teaching about love and forgiveness. The entire novel is imbued with the true Christian spirit and makes you perceive all the events and actions of people in life through the prism of the possibility of spiritual transformation of humanity.

The idea of ​​the novel

Objective reality, the living conditions of people living in the first half of the nineteenth century, are closely connected with the history of the creation of Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”. In the work, the writer tried to express his thoughts about current problems contemporary society. He calls the book a novel - a confession. “My whole heart will pour itself into this novel,” the author dreams.
The desire to write a work of this kind appeared to Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky during hard labor in Omsk. The hard life of a convict and physical fatigue did not prevent him from observing life and analyzing what was happening. Being convicted, he decided to create a novel about the crime, but did not dare to start working on the book. A serious illness did not allow me to make plans and took away all my moral and physical strength. The writer managed to bring his idea to life only a few years later. Several others have been created over the years famous works: “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Notes from the Underground”, “Notes from the House of the Dead”.

The issues raised in these novels will be reflected in Crime and Punishment.

Dreams and cruel reality

Life unceremoniously interfered with Dostoevsky's plans. Creating a great novel took time, and the financial situation worsened every day. To make money, the writer suggested that the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” publish a short novel, “Drunk People.” In this book, he planned to draw public attention to the problem of drunkenness. Storyline The narrative was supposed to be connected with the stories of the Marmeladov family. The main character is an unfortunate official who is a drunkard and dismissed from service. The editor of the magazine put forward other conditions. The desperate situation forced the writer to agree to sell the publishing rights for a negligible price full meeting your essays and, at the request of the editors, write in a short time new novel. Thus, urgent work on the novel “Crime and Punishment” suddenly began.

Starting work on a piece

Having signed the contract with the publishing house, F. M. Dostoevsky, at the expense of the fee, managed to improve his affairs, relaxed and succumbed to temptation. A keen gambler, he was unable to cope with his illness this time either. The result was disastrous. The remaining money is lost. Living in a hotel in Wiesbaden, he could not pay for light and board, and he did not end up on the street only by the grace of the hotel owners. To finish the novel on time, Dostoevsky had to hurry. The author decided to briefly tell the story of a crime. The main character is a poor student who decides to commit murder and robbery. The writer is interested in the psychological state of a person, the “process of crime.”

The plot was moving towards a denouement when, for some unknown reason, the manuscript was destroyed.

Creative process

The feverish work began anew. And in 1866, the first part was published in the Russian Bulletin magazine. The time allotted for the creation of the novel was coming to an end, and the writer’s plan was only expanding. The life story of the main character is harmoniously intertwined with the story of Marmeladov. To satisfy the customer's requirements and avoid creative bondage, F. M. Dostoevsky interrupts work for 21 days. During this time, he creates a new work called “The Player”, sends it to the publishing house and returns to creating “Crime and Punishment”. The study of crime chronicles convinces the reader of the relevance of the problem. “I am convinced that my plot partly justifies modernity,” wrote Dostoevsky. Newspapers reported that cases were becoming more frequent when young, educated people like Rodion Raskolnikov became murderers. The printed parts of the novel were a great success. This inspired Dostoevsky and charged him with creative energy. He finishes his book in Lublin, on his sister’s estate. By the end of 1866, the novel was completed and published in the Russian Bulletin.

Diary of painstaking work

Studying the history of the creation of the novel “Crime and Punishment” is impossible without the writer’s rough notes. They make it possible to understand how much work and painstaking work on the word was put into the work. The creative concept changed, the range of problems expanded, and the composition was restructured. In order to better understand the character of the hero and the motives of his actions, Dostoevsky changes the form of the narrative. In the final third edition, the story is told in the third person. The writer preferred “a story from himself, not from him.” It seems that the main character lives his own independent life and does not obey his creator. The workbooks tell how painfully long the writer himself tries to understand the motives for Raskolnikov’s crime. Not finding an answer, the author decided to create a hero in which “two opposing characters alternately alternate.” In Raskolnikov, two principles are constantly fighting: love for people and contempt for them. It was not easy for Dostoevsky to write the ending of his work. “Inscrutable are the ways in which God finds man,” we read in the writer’s draft, but the novel itself ends differently. It keeps us thinking even after the last page has been read.

F. M. Dostoevsky nurtured the idea of ​​the novel “Crime and Punishment” for six years: in October 1859 he wrote to his brother: “In December I will begin a novel... do you remember, I told you about one confession - a novel that I wanted to write after everyone, saying that I still have to go through it myself. The other day I completely decided to write it immediately... My whole heart will pour into this novel. I conceived it in hard labor, lying on a bunk, in a difficult moment..." - judging by the writer’s letters and notebooks, we are talking specifically about the ideas of “Crime and Punishment” - the novel initially existed in the form of Raskolnikov’s confession. In Dostoevsky's draft notebooks there is the following entry: “He killed Aleko. The consciousness that he himself is unworthy of his ideal, which torments his soul. This is crime and punishment” (we are talking about Pushkin’s “Gypsies”).

The final plan is formed as a result of the great upheavals that Dostoevsky experienced, and this plan united two initially different creative ideas.

After the death of his brother, Dostoevsky finds himself in dire financial need. The threat of debtor's prison hangs over him. Throughout the year, Fyodor Mikhailovich was forced to turn to St. Petersburg moneylenders, interest-bearers and other creditors.

In July 1865, he proposed a new work to the editor of Otechestvennye Zapiski, A.A. Kraevsky: “My novel is called “Drunken” and will be in connection with the current issue of drunkenness. Not only the issue is examined, but all its ramifications are presented, mainly paintings families, raising children in this environment, and so on... and so on." Due to financial difficulties, Kraevsky did not accept the proposed novel, and Dostoevsky went abroad to concentrate on creative work, but history repeats itself there: in Wiesbaden, Dostoevsky loses everything at roulette, even his pocket watch.

In September 1865, addressing the publisher M. N. Katkov in the magazine “Russian Bulletin”, Dostoevsky sets out the idea of ​​the novel as follows: “This is a psychological report of a crime. The action is modern, this year. A young man expelled from university students, a tradesman in origin and living in extreme poverty, due to frivolity, due to unsteadiness in concepts, succumbing to some strange, “unfinished” ideas that were floating in the air, he decided to get out of his bad situation at once. He decided to kill one old woman, a titular adviser who gave money for interest. ... in order to make her mother, who lives in the district, happy, to save her sister, who lives as a companion with some landowners, from the voluptuous claims of the head of this landowner family - claims that threaten her with death, to complete the course, go abroad and then be all her life honest, firm, unswerving in the fulfillment of the “humane duty to humanity”, which, of course, will “make up for the crime”, if only this act against an old woman who is deaf, stupid, evil and sick, who herself does not know why she lives on light and which in a month, perhaps, would have died of its own accord...

He spends almost a month before the final disaster. There is not and cannot be any suspicion against him. This is where the entire psychological process of the crime unfolds. Unsolvable questions arise before the killer, unsuspected and unexpected feelings torment his heart. God's truth, earthly law takes its toll, and he ends up being forced to denounce himself. Forced to die at hard labor, but to join people again, the feeling of isolation and disconnection from humanity, which he felt immediately after committing the crime, tormented him. The law of truth and human nature took their toll. The criminal himself decides to accept torment in order to atone for his deed..."

Katkov immediately sends the author an advance. F. M. Dostoevsky works on the novel all autumn, but at the end of November he burns all the drafts: “... a lot was written and ready; I burned everything... new form, the new plan captivated me, and I started again."

In February 1866, Dostoevsky informed his friend A.E. Wrangel: “Two weeks ago, the first part of my novel was published in the January book of the Russian Messenger. It’s called Crime and Punishment. I’ve already heard a lot of enthusiastic reviews. There are brave and new things."

In the fall of 1866, when “Crime and Punishment” was almost ready, Dostoevsky began again: according to the contract with the publisher Stellovsky, he was supposed to present a new novel by November 1 (we are talking about “The Gambler”), and in case of failure to fulfill the contract, the publisher would have the right for 9 years, “for free and as you please,” print everything that is written by Dostoevsky.

By the beginning of October, Dostoevsky had not yet begun to write The Player, and his friends advised him to turn to the help of shorthand, which at that time was just beginning to come into use. The young stenographer Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, invited by Dostoevsky, was the best student of the St. Petersburg stenography courses; she was distinguished by her extraordinary intelligence, strong character and deep interest in literature. "The Player" was completed on time and delivered to the publisher, and Snitkina soon became the writer's wife and assistant. In November and December 1866, Dostoevsky dictated to Anna Grigorievna the last, sixth part and epilogue of Crime and Punishment, which were published in the December issue of the Russian Messenger magazine, and in March 1867 the novel was published as a separate edition.